Wildfire disasters around the world are becoming more frequent and costly, with nearly half of the most damaging events over the past 44 years occurring in the last decade, according to a new study.

Researchers say the trend is being driven by increasingly extreme fire weather in densely populated regions and by human activity.

The study, led by Calum Cunningham of the University of Tasmania, analysed global disaster data from 1980 to 2023, focusing on events that caused 10 or more deaths or were among the 200 largest economic losses relative to national GDP. It found that major economic losses from wildfires have more than quadrupled since 1980, while the number of fatal wildfire events has tripled. The sharpest rise has occurred since 2015.

Cunningham and colleagues attribute the increase to a combination of climate change, which intensifies conditions for extreme fire weather, and human factors including the expansion of settlements into fire-prone areas, changes in land use and decades of fire suppression.

While Mediterranean, temperate conifer and boreal forests remain the most affected, wildfire disasters are increasingly impacting other regions, particularly near wealthy urban areas, where financial losses are greatest. The findings underline the need for governments and communities to adapt to a world in which wildfires are becoming ever more severe.